34
The Son was anointed by the Father with the Holy Spirit.
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God overcame his adversaries by means of
the Son (A.H. 3.23.1; 5.22.1). And the Son carried out the New Covenant according to the Father's good
pleasure (4.9.3; 5.26.2), having received the power to forgive sins from God (5.17.3). The suffering and
death of Christ are also according to the Father's will,
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through which the Father accomplished his
work of salvation.
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Finally, the Son was raised from the dead according to the will of the Father.
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Even after his glorification, the Son still submits to the Fathers' will. Having ascended to the Father
to offer up his humanity (A.H. 3.19.3; 5.31.2; Frag. 50), the Son now rules at the Father's right hand
over a dominion received from God.
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Through the Son, God presently calls believers to a knowledge
of him (A.H. 3.9.1) and reveals himself to mankind (3.10.6). God also gives blessings through the Son
(3.11.5), and the Spirit is granted by the Son according to the Father's will (5.18.2; Dem. 7).
Regarding the coming judgment, Irenaeus taught that when the Son comes again, he will do so
according to the Father's will (A.H. 1.10.1) and in the Father's power and glory.
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At that time the Son
will grant resurrection of the dead and execute judgment over mankind and angels according to God's
command and for his glory.
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From creation through the end of the ages, the Father is glorified through
the Son (4.17.6; Dem. 10), while the Son receives his glory from the Father (4.20.11; 4.33.11; Frag. 53).
The Son's consistent submissive relationship to the Father is sometimes expressed by Irenaeus in
terms that sound like the Son is of a lesser nature than the Father. If we were to read these passages apart
from the context of all his teachings, we might be tempted to interpret them in a sense that implies an
Arian ontological subordination. For example, Irenaeus said the Father is the "head of Christ" and
"bears the creation and His own Word simultaneously" (A.H. 5.18.2).
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Also, by the Son's confession
that only the Father knows the day and hour of the judgment we learn that the Father is above all things
(2.28.6). Irenaeus wrote, "The Father, therefore, has been declared by our Lord to excel with respect to
knowledge; for this reason, that we, too, as long as we are connected with the scheme of things in the
world, should leave perfect knowledge" (2.28.8).
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Also, Irenaeus told his readers that both the Son and
the Spirit "minister to Him in every respect" (4.7.4; cf. 5.26.2).
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Besides this, there are the expected
and rather innocuous instances during the earthly ministry we see the Son praying to the Father and
acknowledging him as God, a pattern also found in the canonical writings.
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None of these, however,
are irreconcilable with the theanthropic Christology Irenaeus himself seems to have held.
One significant passage that summarizes Irenaeus's concept of the Son of God and the relationship
implied by the FatherSon language is Demonstration 51:
Here [in Isaiah 49:56], first of all, is seen that the Son of God pre-existed, from the fact that the Father spake
with Him, and before He was born revealed Him to men: and next, that He must needs be born a man among
men; and that the same God forms Him from the womb, that is, that of the Spirit of God He should be born;
and that He is Lord of all men. . . . And that the Son of the Father calls Himself servant, [this is] on account of
His subjection to the Father: for among men also every son is the servant of his father.
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A.H. 3.9.3; 3.12.4; 3.18.3; Dem. 40; 53.
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A.H. 4.5.4; 4.38.1; 5.23.2; Dem. 34; 69; 75.
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A.H. 3.20.1; 4.17.6; 5.21.3; 5.36.3; Dem. 97.
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A.H. 3.12.2; 3.12.4; 4.33.13; Frag. 54.
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A.H. 3.6.1; 3.10.6; 3.12.9; 3.12.13; 3.16.3; 3.16.9; 4.6.7; 4.21.3; 4.33.11; 5.18.3; 5.36.3; Frag. 54; Dem. 41; 47; 52; 85; 97).
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A.H. 1.10.1; 3.5.3; 3.16.6; 3.16.8; 4.27.2; 5.30.4.
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A.H. 4.33.13; 4.40.2; 5.2.3; 5.31.2; Dem. 85.
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See the full context of this passage for a clearer understanding of Irenaeus's meaning, which appears to preclude
ontological subordinationism.
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Irenaeus seems to have suggested that during the time he was "connected with the scheme of things in the world" (A.H.
2.28.8) even Christ's knowledge was subject to operation according to the Father's will. In an anti-Gnostic polemical context, the
bishop was urging his readers to not be anxious about their lack of knowledge (gnosis), an anxiety that could lead them to pursue
gnosis from among the Gnostic heretics. The argument is one of Christopraxis--if even Christ, the Son of God, put off knowledge
according to the Father's will, how much more should we follow his example and be content with what has been certainly revealed
in his perfect timing.
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= diakonei' gaVr aujtw'/.
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A.H. 1.27.2; 2.28.4; 3.16.9; 4.2.2; 4.2.5; 4.5.1; 4.9.3; 4.11.3; 4.11.4; 5.17.2; 5.21.2; 5.21.3; 5.22.1; 5.36.2; Frag. 52.